Daily Devotionals

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus

Devotional: November 23rd

The blood of sprinkling. - Hebrews 12:24.

IT is not enough that the Saviour’s blood should be shed; it must be applied: and it is in reference to this that it is called “the blood of sprinkling.” “The law was the shadow of good things to come, but the body was Christ.” We must therefore observe the correspondence between the type and the reality. We may refer to a few of those instances in which the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled after it was shed.

We read that “by faith Moses kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the first-born should touch them.” On the day of atonement, to which there is such frequent reference in this epistle, the high-priest was to go into the holy place with the blood of the sacrifice in a basin, and there sprinkle it seven times to make an atonement for the sins of the people. When Moses descended from the Mount Horeb, having received the law from God, “he wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning and builded an altar under the hill,” that was to represent God, “and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel;” these were to represent the people. “And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace-offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people. And they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning these words.”

Thus we find both parties were consecrated. God was thus under an obligation to bless, and they were under an obligation to obey. The one was thus engaged to provide, and the other to serve, as it was a mutual contract. In the consecration of the priests, a ram was always offered; and the blood was “sprinkled on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, upon the thumb of the right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot;” thus teaching us that God required an entire consecration to his glory from head to foot. In the cleansing of the leper, there were two birds to be taken alive and cleaned. One of these birds was to be killed, and the blood was to be sprinkled seven times upon him that was to be cleansed of his leprosy. The other bird was to be let loose in the open field, to show that the man was now at liberty, and no longer forbidden to approach the camp or the tabernacle.

Thus in the Scriptures blood was used to atone, to ratify, to consecrate, to purify, and to heal; and in all these cases the effect arises from the application of the blood after it was shed. Ah! here alone is the blood which cleanses from the leprosy of sin, the blood that consecrates us to a holy priesthood, to the service of God; the blood of the everlasting covenant, the blood that makes reconciliation for the sins of the people, the blood by which we receive the atonement, and the blood by which we escape the stroke of the destroying angel.

A door was opened in heaven. - Revelation 4:1.

OBSERVE for what purpose the opening in heaven was made. First, For inspection and discovery; accordingly John looked immediately in and he saw many things there to reward his investigation. And we can look in and see the same things now, and some of them more clearly than he could see them. We can see who are the inhabitants there. There is Jesus, the Lord of life and glory. There are the angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect; patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and the noble army of martyrs are there. There are, too, our own beloved friends and relatives who have died in the faith of Jesus; they have done with sorrow and they have done with sin, and we can look in now and see how they are engaged, and in what they are employed. We can see them serving him, and seeing his face, and bearing his name on their foreheads. We can see that their service is all fervour, union, harmony, joy, and praise. Oh, that ours may resemble it! They are resting from their labours, they are “clothed with white robes,” having “palms in their hands, and crowns of glory upon their heads;” and they have songs of praise in their mouths, even “salvation unto God and unto the Lamb.” This is not all: it is,

Secondly, Opened for communication; not only for us to look in, but to receive from. Ever since a door has been opened in heaven there has been a perpetual egression from thence. If departed saints do not, and however pleasing the idea may seem, yet the Scriptures do not sanction it-yet if saints come not from thence, angels do, and whatever their rank may be, they are “all ministering Spirits sent forth to minister unto them who shall be heirs of salvation.” But we want to receive something from heaven above angels. The Holy Spirit comes from thence; our Saviour, therefore, said to his disciples, “If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I depart I will send him unto you.”

It is from above that we receive all our blessed influences and consolations. Does not the Apostle say, “My God shall supply all your needs from his riches in glory by Christ Jesus?” As the Jews received the cluster of grapes from Eschol, and thereby not only had something from Canaan, but also something of Canaan, so it is with Christians now. They receive the first-fruits of their inheritance, the earnest of their portion, and the foretastes of their eternal blessedness; and “whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord from heaven; and to them that look for him will he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

Thirdly, It is opened for admission. This crowns the whole. It is well for us to look in and to look upon, but it is much better to go in. There are two entrances into heaven to which we may refer. The one is a. present entrance. This is Spiritual. By faith, and in religious exercises, the believer, now draws near even to God. As Milton says-

-“Led by thee

Into the heaven of heavens, I have presumed

An earthly guest to draw my comforts hence.”

The believer now has “boldness of access with confidence, by the faith of him.” But there will be a future entrance; this will he personal. This will accomplish the Saviour’s prayer, “Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.” Whatever advantages they now enjoy they are only, as the Apostle says, “strangers and pilgrims upon the earth;” they declare plainly that they seek a country, even a heavenly; nothing less will satisfy their minds; but they will not be always upon the road sending spies to Zion, and fetching in supplies from thence by faith and hope. They will receive the end of their faith and hope -the salvation of their souls, and realize the language of David, who says, “With joy and rejoicing shall they be brought; they shall enter into the king’s palace.”